The Dark Side

It's wise to be led by others -- as long as they're going the right way. :)

Sunday, May 29, 2005

Now that I have time...

to look at other blogs since Darling Wife has finally given up the computer and has passed her PhD defence, I have looked at other teachers 'Blogs. EdWonk is very interesting. He has posted a few posts that will make you think, teacher or not...

Tales of students who do not know when a joke no longer is a joke here and here...

Saturday, May 28, 2005

If you thought that you were ever having a busy week...

You should check out this "Grand Moff" here. I have never been that busy as a teacher, and I know how hard it can be, just keeping the normal stuff in line on a normal day. Wish her luck with everything that has been going on in her life please.

Friday, May 27, 2005

Visiting - Permanently (I hope so)?

As I am on vacation here in California, I am also visiting a fellow teacher in the area and interviewing for a position that is open here also. I am so releaved to see other schools, other students, and another view of a school than the one that I have had the last school year. I feel refreshed already, and looking forward to teaching in this portion of California. The facility is much better, the teachers care for (and are respected by) the student population, and it seems more like a "school" to me. I have my interview at 1, and I am a bit nervous, but I think that it will go well. Thank God that I have seen a different view of school that has given me the strength to carry on with my chosen profession.

Thursday, May 26, 2005

Wow, but it fits...

Orange is your Lightsaber color.

Orange represents energy and enthusiasm. It alsosymbolizes strength and endurance. People withorange lightsabers are curious about life, andthe world around them. Fascination catches themat every turn, and they are creative enough tounderstand life's potential.

8 minutes till...

My Darling Wife has her thesis defence. We have been working for a long time for this day and it is now here. Please give her luck in this endevor. I have done all that I can do for her. You can also go here and wish her luck herself. Good luck baby!!!

Saturday, May 21, 2005

Warning: D&D Geek alert..

You scored as Wizard. You are a wizard. Through reading booksand learning the history of the mistakes in the world, you figure outa way to revamp them and figure out the answer on your own. Yousearch for the unknown and thus is why you know how to usesparkly magic thingies!

I know, an old game that will send me to Hell if I play -- I played when I was young and the Players Manual was one of the first books that I read cover to cover. My older brother and his friends told me that if I didn't learn the rules, I could not play with them. They thought that I would not attempt to do the reading when I was in 1st grade.

Oh, little did they know... about 3 months later, with the help of my mother, brother, and a dictionary, I told them I was ready and played for the first time.

When the school system finally tested me, I was WAY Above my grade level in reading and math (counting gold, platinum, copper, electrum, and silver correctly)... So you can say that the game is good for something... Plus it opened my eyes to the wonders of fantasy and immagination. :)

Almost There (Stay on Target)...

Well, for those who care,I have gotten through my first of three finals yesterday. I gave it to 8 students (one was exempt from taking it, and another did not show up and got an automatic 0%). After all was said and done, 5 people passed the class. Is a 50% passing rate good? I don't think so, but I would like to hear what others have to say about it. I know that I could have probably done better at teaching the course, but with the abilities of these students I do not know if it would have helped that much. I went over every single question that I gave. I gave the answers to ALL of the essay questions that I had on the exam. I even allowed them the use of a crib sheet butnone of the students took up the opportunities that I gave them. Well Monday is the last of my finals to give, and these will be even more brutal than the one that I made. They are state written tests that I have not even seen, let alone read, the questions to. I just prey that my students paid attention to what I had reviewed with them, during the semester. I will give you all an update as to what happens with them.

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Has this ever happened to you...

Monday, while I was at school, we were going to have a faculty meeting. I had just gotten done teaching 3 straight hours, and needed a little liquid wake-up call (Cherry Coke). break from story...

Now, have you seen the stupid commercials about people not pushing the buttons of common objects and others pushing them for their peers because they want to get a new car from Onstar?

Back to the story: I tossed in my exact change into the machine and pushed the Cherry Coke button. I heard a funny noise coming out of the machine, but that was not abnormal for this particular one. My soda came down from it. One of my colleagues asked me a question and in the time that it took for him do do so, about 10 more came out of the machine. Then when I thought that it was over, the machine rejected my money and I got that back too.

All I could think about the rest of the day was "DAMN", I also wished that on Monday I was in Los Vegas at the roulette wheel or playing craps... Or even just at that car dealership... At least I have not had to buy a soda for a whole week :)

Another good day!!!

WOW!!! I had another good day at school today. I do not know what is happening, but I guess that I have gone through the "worse" because it seems to be getting better. But then, I only had one class today and the rest consisted of a special day because of a book that our students were practically forced to create. Also, we had a send off for our principal, Mr. L, who is retiring soon. but all in all, a good day with only little problems.

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

What should I do???

With approximately 9 days until I no longer have a paying job, I am wondering about what I should do with my "free time". I know that I have to start cleaning and packing for our move to California, and I have to try and get that other job too. I know that Caltechgirl will be teaching college and busy with cleaning out her desk and handing over the lab to new people/her PI. So what should I do in the time that I will have.

New Stories about students

Yesterday - My lovely wife, Caltechgirl, and I had some business to attend to while I was supposed to be working. While I was gone, my students apparently actually worked on the stuff that I had left them. That wasn't what I really wanted to blog about though. This other thing is even more amazing

Same day, but earlier, I was at school, teaching my 2nd period. I announce that I am handing out my LAST Assignment for my Earth Science class (Finals are on the 20th). I have maybe 2 individuals currently passing this quarter, and probably 4 passing the semester. I have been bending over backwards, trying to find something that my students could grasp onto. Then maybe they could learn just a little dispite their best efforts to not to.

I offered an assignment that involved using computers and PowerPoint. I also made the assignment attainable and worth a lot of points. If they make it, they have a good possibility to pass. I expected maybe 3 different people to work on it and complete it, but to my surprise, I have all but maybe 2 of the 10 of my students completing the assignment. There is a bonus to it though, the computers teacher is also giving a grade for the same project that I created, and there are people failing her class, that are in my class too. I have students making 8 - 10 page slide shows, who have not done a single thing in the last 5 weeks. I have one individual that has the project done already, that hasn't completed a single assignment for 12 weeks. I am SO surprised that I don't know just what to do with myself... I just wish that I had discovered this 12 weeks ago...

I shall chalk this one up to experience and hopefully I will not make the same mistakes next year.

More later on how they act next week and their achievement on the final...

Saturday, May 07, 2005

Tagged - I'm it.

It is FINALLY Complete here is my Meme tag from Ogre. I hope that you have a good day with it.

If I could be a scientist... I wish that I could be just that. 5 years ago when I had graduated from USC, that is what I really wanted to be, out discovering ways for humanity to deal with and fight the distruction of earthquakes.

Unfortunately, that has not happened, but there is still time, right?

If I could be a farmer... I would sell my farm and buy the mountain property and house that my Uncle Louis sold in the early 90's. I would keep it all natural, except where my mother and father were married - there, I would restore it to the way it was in the early 70's so that they could renew their vows in the same place...

If I could be a musician... I'd be a kickass guitarist. I was told that I had the perfect guitarists hands, just about 15 years too late. I had not the time or the patience to take up the art the day that I found out...

If I could be a doctor...I would probably work for Doctors without Borders, and attempt to diagnose and cure as many diseases that I could in the time that I am here on Earth.

If I could be a painter... I would paint pictures of mountainous areas like the whispering painter that died many years ago, but still has his shows on PBS aired... I still love to watch him talk about his little friends the trees that lived next to the lake or stream that he had just painted...

If I could be a gardener..., I would not kill all of the stuff that I attempt to grow in the planters on our back porch

If I could be a chef... I would cook dinner for my wife almost every night - then she could do the dishes...

If I could be an architect... I would destroy the Klingon war ship that landed in Fresno, then put something like the Los Angeles PD building in its place.

I would also design my parents a house that even the people on Extreme Home Make Over would have trouble designing and building in even 2 weeks (if they were given the time to do it).

If I could be a linguist... I would learn Spanish, German, Russian, Greek, Polish, Latin, Hebrew, Arabic, Cantonese, Japanese, Zulu,.....and English- (Like Ben...)

If I could be a psychologist... I would be able to understand why it is that the students I teach do the stupid things that they do...

If I could be a librarian... I would keep an extensive Geology library like the one at CalTech (South Mudd building) in Pasadena, CA

If I could be an athlete... I would be the star Middle Linebacker for the Denver Broncos.

If I could be a lawyer... I would sue all of the daytime commercial lawyers for disturbing my hard earned free time during the day by putting up all of their stupid adds about medications that have hurt people and the class action suits associated with them...

I would also sue Ben for taking my idea of Will It Burn as a Night show skit...

If I could be an innkeeper... I would help run the inn that my wife and I would be co-owners of.

If I could be a professor... I'd teach introductory Physical Geology and have fun scaring the sh*t out of the students that I teach because they will finally realize just how insignificant they actually are in the grand scheme of the physical universe.

If I could be a proctologist... I would probably be enjoying all of the ass-jokes that are out there, each and every day I go into the office.

If I could be an actor... I would already be living in Los Angeles, and also probably be ashamed of being a democrat because of these people.

If I could be a writer... I would write the "Great American Novel" and have a #1 on the New York Times best seller list.

If I could be a back-up dancer... I would retire due to all of the bad Fresno dancers...

If I could be a llama-rider... I would use my llamas for OT and cancer survivor therapy

If I could be a midget stripper... I would be a parent of a baby like this, or this.

If I could be a TV-Chat show host... I would see if Ben would burn for my first attempt of "Will It Burn?" on my show...

If I could be a Jedi... I would use the Force to change the minds of all of my students into actually wanting to get a decent education and actually listening to me for a change, instead of trying to destroy the classroom, my respect for them, and their own minds.

If I could be a judge... I would reinstate public hangings on a mass scale. Then maybe there wouldn't be so much desire to kill your fellow man, due to the gruesome display of the penalty for doing such a monsterous act.

If I could be President... I would not know what to do with all of my free time...

If I could be an astronaut... I would be the first human to walk on Mars.

Since I am sooo new to this, I will have to let this finger die, since all of those that I do know, actually have already recieved this Meme. Thank you all for coming over and seeing what I have posted already. :)

Friday, May 06, 2005

The ONE thing I like about the place that I am teaching

This is the only thing I like about the place that I am teaching:It's small size.

Today, when one teacher went on a field trip with her classes, 21 students were absent. In a typical school of 1000 or more, this would not even change most of the classes that happen in a day. At my school, half of the student body is not here. That means instead of having 10 students in a class, I have only 5. It makes everything much better on my stress level.

Those of you you who know who I am (granted, since this is my first post, not many) you know what type of students I attempt to teach here in NC. For those of you who don't, lets just say that 90% of my students are not the brightest lightbulbs in the billboard.

But anyway, I still had to "write up" one student today, as my class of two went to the library to do research. They had a specific job, with a specific set of directions, and my special person decided to throw a mouse pad for no real reason. Don't ask me why, as I have stopped trying to figure out why any of them do the things that they do...